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<h2>int Serial.available()</h2>
<h4>Description</h4>
<p>Get the number of bytes (characters) available for reading over the serial port.
</p>
<p class='vspace'></p><h3>Parameters</h3>
<p>None
</p>
<p class='vspace'></p><h4>Returns</h4>
<p>The number of bytes are available to read in the serial buffer, or 0 if none are available.  If any data has come in, Serial.available() will be greater than 0.  The serial buffer can hold up to 128 bytes.
</p>
<p class='vspace'></p><h3>Example</h3>
<pre>
int incomingByte = 0;	// for incoming serial data

void setup() {
	Serial.begin(9600);	// opens serial port, sets data rate to 9600 bps
}

void loop() {

	// send data only when you receive data:
	if (Serial.available() &gt; 0) {
		// read the incoming byte:
		incomingByte = Serial.read();

		// say what you got:
		Serial.print("I received: ");
		Serial.println(incomingByte, DEC);
	}
}

</pre><h4>Note: </h4>
<p>Serial.available has a documented bug in it in Arduino v.0007. This will be patched in v.0008, but see this thread if you wish to <a class='urllink' href='http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1168309608' rel='nofollow'>patch Serial.available</a> in Arduino 0007.
</p>
<p class='vspace'></p><h4>See also</h4>
<ul><li><a class='wikilink' href='Serial_Begin.html'>Serial.begin</a>(speed)
</li><li><a class='wikilink' href='Serial_Read.html'>Serial.read</a>()
</li><li><a class='wikilink' href='Serial_Print.html'>Serial.print</a>(data)
</li><li><a class='wikilink' href='Serial_Println.html'>Serial.println</a>(data)
</li></ul><p class='vspace'></p><p><a class='wikilink' href='index.html'>Reference Home</a>
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